The types are well-known – startups, artists' studios, pioneer cafes, co-operative housing – but none the worse for that.
One of the co-living tenants in Widdicombe's piece compares his living situation to another form of co-operative housing.
Councillors have approved the UK's first affordable ecological and co-operative housing project which will be based in Bramley.
Since the 1920s, Sweden has had large-scale co-operative housing that is owned by neither the state nor its residents.
There is a growing interest in co-operative housing options that involve older people forming communities offering mutual support while maintaining a strong emphasis on independence.
In the US, which particularly inspired us, there is a deeply embedded movement with over 12,000 students living in co-operative housing.
Across the country, businesses, consumers and entrepreneurs are creating a new social economy – one where alternatives such as community energy, social investment and co-operative housing groups are rebalancing the economy.
It will set out a plan for how co-operative housing can provide affordable homes, even in the downturn, and free people from the grip of a precarious mortgage market.
Nic Bliss, chair of the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, says: "If we want a strong co-op and mutual housing sector, the political and social will needs to be there.
One example of co-operative housing, although not owned by a council, is in and around the Oxo Tower on London's South Bank, which was redeveloped in the 1980s and 90s by Coin Street Community Builders, a social enterprise trust.
